What’s your favorite Christmas tradition? Roxann G. on the Biblica staff loves to drive around with her grandsons looking at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve. Jennifer G. hangs up homemade ornaments with all the names of Jesus they could come up with as a family. Those may sound familiar to you, but how about these traditions with international roots?
Very early Christmas morning we are together praying and giving thanks for being united. During the day we make many typical foods from Ecuador. We fry the traditional “pristiños” made of corn and cheese and served with honey or jelly, with a delicious Ecuadorian coffee. We all prepare Christmas dinner, together we remember how God has been good to us, and finally we open our Christmas presents. —Enrique B., Latin America
I am from New Mexico, and one of the most beautiful traditions is lighting luminarias (brown paper bags with sand in the bottom and a votive candle) along pathways along the street and into the house to light the way for the Christ. —Larry C., United States
On Christmas Eve, we celebrate our family’s Polish tradition of breaking Oplatki, an ornately decorated wafer that represents family unity. We place hay in the center of the table to represent the birth of Christ and leave an empty chair at the table for an unexpected guest and as a symbol of Christ’s coming. —Hope K., United States
Ours is a cross-cultural marriage, and we enjoy the best of both cultures during Christmas. I love my wife’s cultural celebration as it involves the entire village. They come together for a whole day around sports, cultural celebrations that demonstrate very old traditions, and of course, a massive spread of food sponsored by one family who commits a year in advance to feed the entire village. Typically this family will rear pigs and cows and expand their farm in order to feed the whole village. The beauty is in how other families take part in helping them. The Christmas celebration is a culmination of a year-long anticipation and a reflection of deep generosity and enhancing relationships. The key underlined emphasis is on TOGETHER. —A staff member in India
